Comfort of a Friend
by feistypaants
Summary: Kristoff and Anna build a blanket fort. Snuggles ensue. [Kristanna]


Kristoff groaned as he heard frantic knocking on his door. He was thankful that Elsa had permitted him to move into the palace – he definitely had grown to like the comfortable beds over makeshift hay piles and furs - but there were nights that Anna just wouldn't let him sleep, and he would contemplate going out to sleep in the barns.

With a heavy sigh, he swung his legs from the plush mattress, taking tired steps over to the door. "I'm coming, stop knocking." He almost heard her bouncing eagerly on the other side. Large fingers unhitched the latch, eyes rolling as she bounded into his room. "Anna, what— Hey!" He watched her rip the blankets from his bed, piling them on the floor before running to the linen closet and obtaining all the extra sheets and comforters. "What are you doing?!"

"Need blankets" she mumbled under her breath, leaning down to gather all of the covers from the floor. The pile was much too large for her arms – it would be comical if she didn't seem so desperate.

"Are you cold?" the blond asked, concern lacing his words. He stepped forward, reaching out a hand to take the bundle of blankets from her arms. "Let me help."

"Not cold! Need blankets!" Anna tore them from his grip, giggling up at him before skipping out of the room, tripping over the trailing sheets.

Damn it, Anna.

Curiosity got the better of him, and he just had to see what she was planning. Kristoff followed her giggles down the hall, past her own room – which, he saw with a quick glance, was barren of blankets as well. What are you doing?

His ears perked up at the sound of chairs scraping against wood floor, and frustrated little grunts that could only belong to the red head. "Anna?" he called, making his way to the end of the corridor. "You okay?" He peeked his head around the frame, arms crossing and leaning against the open door as he saw her pulling with all her might on a heavy couch, barely budging it. "What are you doing?"

Anna paused, leaning back and craning her neck to peer skeptically at the man behind her. "Nothing," she sang, spinning on her heel to face him. "Why? Does it look like I'm doing something?"

Kristoff raised an eyebrow at the small girl, giving her one amused chuckle. "Want any help doing nothing? Couldn't help but notice you can't quite move that couch." He smirked at her glowering pout, pushing off of the wall as she grumbled something he assumed was agreement, rolling the sleep out of his shoulders. Hands gripped firmly on the arm of the couch, and he looked at her expectantly. "Where do you want it?"

With a small bounce to her step, Anna slid over to an area of the floor directly parallel to the fireplace. Eyebrows furrowing together, mouth scrunching in concentration, and arms spread to her full wingspan, Anna shifted around, trying to find the perfect placement. "Riiiiight…." A few steps back. "Here. Right here!"

The blond laughed, pulling the couch fairly effortlessly across the wood floor, cringing as it slid across the finish. "Should I be lifting this?" He asked, pausing and looking over at the princess.

"No, it's fine. This has been my play room since I was a kid – it's all sorts of scratched up!" Anna exclaimed, braids bouncing on her chest as she moved with excitement. After a quick glance around the room, the mountaineer sighed, noticing the deep scratches all across the floor. So, she's always been this reckless, huh.

A grunt and a tug, and the couch was where the freckled girl wanted it, followed by her almost demanding him to move the rest of the furniture around. Kristoff cocked an eyebrow at the eager princess, propping his hands on his hips.

"What are we even doing?"

"You'll see!"

"Anna."

"Just move them!"

"Nope."

"Kristoff!"

"Say please."

A pout.

"Just say please, Anna!"

"… Please."

He smirked. "There you go."

With a few more tugs and scrapes, Anna was finally happy with the placement of all the chairs and tables scattered around the fireplace. "Move!" she giggled, pressing her hands firmly on his chest and shoving him backwards to the outskirts of the shape made by the furniture.

"Hey now, after I did all that work?" he teased, a smirk playing at the corners of his lips. "Still not gonna tell me?"

"Nope!" After smiling at him for far too long, Anna began digging through the pile of blankets, looking for the fluffiest of the covers. She folded them – haphazardly, clumsy in this as she was in most things – and laid them down, covering the entirety of the floor within the furniture circle. It finally started to hit him. He knew exactly what she was doing.

Kristoff had spent much of his life doing this – draping sheets of moss, brush, small twigs, and anything else he could find over a frame of branches and sticks, making himself a shelter from the rain and wind. The blond knew better than most the appeal of having a shelter – even a makeshift one… But why on earth was she doing this inside?

"Are you building a shelter?"

"… A fort."

"A fort?"

"A blanket fort."

"A fort."

"Yep."

"Why?"

"Why not?"

He laughed, shaking his head. "Fair enough."

Thin arms flew over her head as Anna whipped the sheets out over the tops of the chairs, draping them evenly over the backs of all the chairs. When everything was settled over the tops of the furniture and the fort felt fully covered, Anna giggled and ran over to Kristoff. "C'mon, c'mon! Let's go inside!" His broad shoulders slumped, and he scratched behind his ear.

"I dunno if I'm gonna fit in there, Anna," he shrugged, mentally measuring the size of the opening against the size of his shoulders.

"It's big! The biggest I've ever built!" Anna dragged him to the opening, twisting her lips to one side. Okay, so maybe he wouldn't fit through. But that was an easy fix! With a bit of a struggle, Anna managed to push the chairs further apart, allowing for the burly man to easily slide through the gap. "There. Problem solved!"

He laughed, his hair bouncing around his ears. "Okay." With a deep breath, he crawled into the fort, twisting carefully to lie on his stomach. The blond didn't really know what the point of this was, but she was obviously excited about it. He'd give it a shot. "You coming in, feisty pants?"

Anna giggled, diving in and lying beside the blond. She nestled her chin into her crossed arms, relaxation taking over her body, the crackling fire warming her cool skin. "Perfect," she hummed, letting her eyes flutter closed.

Wait, was she going to sleep?

Kristoff felt his face flush, eyes rolling to look around the room. They hadn't slept in the same bed yet, and to be quite honest, he wasn't sure he was ready to, or if he would be able to stop himself from pressing up close to the princess – something he was positive was frowned upon. A commoner snuggling the princess?Ridiculous. He recalled that they had slept fairly close together during their trek to find Elsa – but that was because of freezing cold; they both knew that was the best way to keep warm at night, it wasn't for anything more than survival. At least that's what he told himself.

"Um, maybe I should get back –" He paused. Oh wait. It quickly occurred to him that all of his blankets were part of this fort. Plus, Anna's slow breathing next to him and the crackling of the fire were better than going back to his cold room. "Or…"

Anna turned on her side, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her nose into his shoulder. "We can sleep here – we put so much work into it…"  
>A nervous chuckle tore from his chest, and he pushed her from his side, to twist and turn onto his back. He felt her pout turn back to a smile as he pulled her back to his chest, giving her a small squeeze. This is just like a hug. A lying down hug. It's completely innocent, right?<p>

But he was shirtless, and she was in just her nightgown, and her fingers were tangling through the hair on his chest, and he could feel every curve of her shoulders and spine, and her breath was hot on his shoulder as she began to doze…

Damn it, Anna.

"Hey, tell me a story."

He glanced down at the ginger. "What?"

"A story. Tell me a story. Can't lay in a fort without a story," she mumbled, half asleep, slurping up the drool that was starting to pool on his shoulder. Ew.  
>Kristoff sighed, tilting his head to press his nose against her hair. "A story. Hmm."<p>

The blond thought, and began speaking. Rambling on about one of his particularly interesting ice harvesting trips – the time he was finally old enough to be accepted by the older men. The time they taught him all the little nuances he hadn't quite picked up on his own.

His voice was low, quiet enough that the cracking of the fire was just audible over it. The gentle rumbling vibrations of his speech were the final factor to lulling the princess to sleep. And when he heard her light snoring, Kristoff let out a gentle laugh, pulling her closer, letting his own eyes drift closed.

Just a hug. Lying down.

Elsa would probably kill him when she found them here in the morning. But feeling Anna next to him as he drifted off?

That was infinitely worth it.

He loved this weird princess and her weird ideas of fun.


End file.
